This Too Shall Pass – Encouraging New Moms

January 26, 2019/

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When I had my baby back in 2017 and became a new mom, it felt like an out of body experience. Till today, I try to bring up the memories of the first few days in the hospital but most of it is blurry. One memory that sticks though is my blood draw/IV line (drip) experience.

My son was delivered via cesarean and everything went great! Then the second night came. Before the surgery, two IV lines had been drawn on both arms for passing of fluids (drip) and medication. The lines worked well the first night but by the next afternoon, I had huge swellings at the site where the lines went into my veins, huge like eggs under my skin and super uncomfortable. The drip had stopped going into my vein and instead was gathering at the same spot under my skin.

Then the struggle started. One of the nurses called the attention of the doctors to it and he came over to try setting up new lines for the drip. He stuck me with a syringe multiple times, he stuck and he stuck but no veins. My veins had gone on a trip to Sambisa forest and left me to suffer. He gave up and went to call an older doctor.

The older doctor came over, with a lot of confidence, teasing the younger doctor for failing. Well, the older doctor tried as well, uncountable times, no success. You can just imagine the pain of being stuck with needles, over and over again. Sometimes, they find a vein and move the syringe around from side to side trying to draw blood in order to see if it’s a viable vein they found. Oh, the pain!

After all that poking, he finally found a small one. And he set up a line, yay! Well, short lived victory. The vein was too small to support the drip line and it started to hurt like a m**therfucker. In fact ehn, I removed it myself this time around.

The doctors gave up at this point. You know after surgery, they will wait for you to fart so they can be sure your intestines and internal organs are functioning well. See me hunting for mess nah. I still needed to receive the fluids but thankfully, I had passed gas that evening and could take water and medicine orally. Injections that would have been passed into the drip line, I had to take them on my bumbum.

When they needed to draw blood to check my PCV and other things before I could be discharged from the hospital, it had to be taken from my groin. Sigh.

Now imagine a new mom who had not taken a shower for 2 days because of the CS incision site, wearing massive sanitary pads because of lochia, having to spread her legs open so a syringe could be stuck in a vein somewhere around her private part. Na wa!

And The Point is…

Well, what is the point of this whole story? “This Too Shall Pass”. As a new mom, I want you to always have it at the back of your mind that all the things that make you worry will pass away. Sleepless nights, baby crying, constipation, pain from stitches, countless diaper changes, lack of appetite, labour trauma, engorged breasts, exhaustion, weight gain or loss, and many other things. You may begin to ask yourself, “na who send me message?”

At the moment, it may feel like life will never be normal again and that these exhausting days will last forever but remember, “this too shall pass”. All the questions you have as a new mom will soon become second nature to you and you’ll be the one guiding new mothers on their journey.

It is just a new phase in your life that needs some adjustment and before you know it, all that you are currently worried about will become a faint memory. You were once a baby yourself and you having your own baby today is just another proof of time taking care of every situation.

I had to really dig deep to remember my hospital stay story shared above because, with time, such painful memories do fade away. This Too Shall Pass is a phrase I always use whenever it seems something is about to overwhelm me. And quite frankly, it keeps me grounded.

Give yourself time to adjust, sleep when your baby sleeps. I know you have heard this a lot but really, it is a very vital piece of advice. Dirty floors and housework will never end but stress can affect your health negatively, it can even affect your breastmilk supply. So please try to make time for rest and in those early days, sleep when your baby sleeps.Don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it. You’re superwoman, superwife and supermom but even superheroes perform better when they have help.

The struggle of parenthood is real but being a parent is also one of the most rewarding things in the world. Watching your baby grow, hit those milestones, the first smile, first steps, first words, will make you forget about all the pains or struggles of today. Because This Too Shall Pass is why mothers have more than 1 child. If it’s a lasting pain and struggle, nobody will try it more than once. So don’t worry mama, you got this!